Exchange Says 51% Attacker Returns $100K Worth in Ethereum Classic

Cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io announced Saturday it has received $100,000 worth of ethereum classic (ETC) back from a recent chain attacker.

In an announcement, the exchange further said it tried to contact the 51 percent attacker but has not received any reply so far, adding:

“We still don’t know the reason. If the attacker didn’t run it for profit, he might be a white hacker who wanted to remind people of the risks in blockchain consensus and hashing power security.”

The exchange warned that the hashing power of ETC network is “still not strong enough” and that another 51 percent attack is still possible. As of press time, ETC is trading at $4.34, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Last week, Gate.io confirmed it lost about 40,000 ETC (worth nearly $200,000 at the time) in a 51 percent attack – an incident where more than 50 percent of a blockchain’s computing power is aggregated and controlled by one organization to change the network’s transaction history and to double-spend cryptocurrencies.

The exchange at the time identified three addresses that it said were tied to the attacker in question. In its Saturday post, the exchange said that it has launched a “strict 51% detect for enhanced protection.”

Last week, another crypto exchange Bitrue also confirmed the 51 percent attack, according to its official Twitter account, claiming that 13,000 ETC got lost.

China-based security firm SlowMist first detected the 51 percent attack and detailed the event in a blog post on Wednesday last week, and said it was willing to work with Gate.io, Bitrue, and Binance in order to locate the 51 percent attacker.